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Paul Walker Wanted toLeave Acting to StudySharks

Aug 14, 2014 1:05PM
|
by
Carly Sitzer

Splash

Paul Walker was one man who truly lived every week like it was Shark Week.

Dr. Michael Domeier worked with the Fast & Furious star, who studied marine biology in college, and divulged the late actor was passionate about sharks and expressed interest in leaving show business behind to study the dangerous animal.

“He was a big texter. He’d text me all the time, call me because he wanted to do more. He would call me in the middle of the night and say, ‘Hey I want to quit acting. I want to go back to school. Can you help me?’” Dr. Domeier recalled of his late friend.

“And I’d talk him off the ledge and go, ‘Paul, that’s a really bad idea,’” he said with a laugh.

“I said, ‘You can have much more of an influence on these topics as a celebrity. Let’s work together. I can help you, give you talking points.’ So we kept in touch over the years… He kept calling me, ‘Hey, let’s do something again. When can I come with you again?’”

Paul and Dr. Domeier first met when the scientist was working on the production of Shark Men for the National Geographic Channel in 2010. Initially, he felt like the actor wasn’t a necessary addition to the series based on his research. But he quickly changed his mind.

“We had to spend 10-12 days on this boat in a little tiny room, and we became friends. I also got to see firsthand his passion for the ocean… It probably wasn’t until the second trip when I went, ‘Okay, this guy’s for real.’”

Completing the mission was said to be a dream come true for the self-proclaimed “ocean addict.”

His final mission came to a close when Dr. Domeier’s special, Spawn of Jaws: The Birth, aired last night on Discovery with a dedication to Paul by his friend, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.